Parrothead in Paradise

by PastCat

Chapter 16

The next morning, the sky on the horizon was a disturbing shade of red. Adam looked even more unsettled than he had last night; I was not sure he had actually gotten any sleep. “Red sky at night, sailor’s delight. Red sky in the morning…” He said at breakfast.

“Sailor take warning.” I finished. I could feel it more now too. There was a heavy tension in the air that did not bode well. The air was weighed down with moisture and the winds were strangely calm. At the distance out at sea, a mass of clouds etched with lightning was building to the south. It grew slowly, like Godzilla rising dramatically from the deep. Adam went to find Doc to persuade him that we should take shelter in the Diamond Doc’s tunnel at Diamond Head. I have no idea what he said, but it worked to convince our former professor.

Everyone gathered up everything they could carry in the wheelbarrows. Emmy’s favorite cooking implements joined Nic’s stash of seeds and our collection of fishhooks. Doc’s and my fishing nets and traps took up space alongside all the food we had managed to store up until now. The memorabilia we had salvaged from the van finished it all off. My Jimmy Buffett album and Trish’s sonic screwdriver were among them.

As soon as the rest of our group started moving, I pulled Adam aside and the two of us went to retrieve the saddle bags from the music building. As I retrieved them, Adam noticed the USS Arizona trombone I had placed aside months ago. He read the words inscribed on the bell and, without another word, slung the instrument over his shoulder to rest between his wings. The only thing he said was “Let’s go catch up with the others.”

The air smelled of rain as we made our way towards Diamond Head. The sunshine felt more ominous rather than less, as every chance we got, someone was glancing to the south at the growing mass of clouds building on the horizon. It made shivers run down my spine every time I looked, so I tried to concentrate on the path ahead. In the couple of hours it took to get our supplies and other items to Diamond Head, I had broken that promise to stop looking three times more than I expected. Having to heave the wheelbarrows up through the narrow cut was a welcome distraction. The six of us had to take them one at a time before we managed to get everything through.

Doc’s excavations proved to be a welcome sight. I could see where he had built a sort of earthen ramp up to a fresh tunnel above the cave with names. “We will have to leave the wheelbarrows here.” Doc said. One by one we unloaded each barrow and made several trips hauling our supplies into the tunnel. It was smaller in diameter than the name tunnel, just wide enough for Doc to move comfortably. It ended in a room big enough to hold a U-Haul van. Doc pointed out a few crevices that he had extended to provide extra air.

“Is there a way we can get out if something happens to that entrance?” I asked.

“Of course. I built an escape tunnel, but the first step is a doozy. Beyond that, I am your second backup.” Doc said.

“Okay, so how is the main entrance getting closed then?” I asked.

“With this.” Doc heaved a heavy looking piece of rusted steel. “I have one for the ramp entrance and another that we can use for in here to make a sort of airlock. The alternate exit has the same.”

“I can work the outer one, but the inner one can only be opened from inside. We will have to be let in.” Adam said.

“All right, so do we need a code word or something?” I asked.

“How about this, if any of us needs to be let in and the inner door is closed, you have to answer a question posed by whomever is inside. Get the answer right and we’ll open the door.” Emmy suggested.

“You have a suspicious mind. Works for me.” Adam said. After the last load had been carried inside we took one last look at the sky. “Maybe we should wait until this blows over before trying our epic flight.”

“We can try, but if any water ghouls appear to get that rock, I say we make a break for it. Alternatively, maybe we can use the winds to accelerate and sort of slingshot us in the right direction. If it is a hurricane, the strongest winds will be around that deep low at the center. It might be prudent to wait until that nears before taking the leap. ” I said.

“Agreed. Now, I think we have enough time to give a certain thestral some well- earned rest.” Adam picked up one side of the windbreaker with Slickwing’s remains and I carried the other. We scratched out a hole beside Mary’s marker and placed our flying teacher in the earth. I said something that I don’t remember over the gravesite, as did Adam. Just as we finished covering the grave, the wind picked up and the rain started. We hightailed it to the shelter, closing the outer door, then the inner door, behind us.

Our shelter was lit only by Emmy’s horn for now. She said she could hold the dim light for a while; we decided that when she got tired, we would use one of the precious flashlights. When that went out, we would either use Emmy again or light the other. Hopefully they would last long enough for the storm to blow through.

Then the wind started to make its presence known. Even through multiple layers of rock, we could hear it howling and shrieking like damned souls being torn to pieces. We could not hear the rain, but the smell of it was an ever-present odor of dampness. In the dim light, we stared at one another, fear and hope mingling in our expressions. The hope was that we would come out of this in one piece; the fear was that we would not.The stress was exhausting. One by one we dropped off to a sort of half-sleep, lulled by waiting.

I was close to succumbing to the lethargy, but Adam woke with a start and stared at me with eyes as big as saucers. “What is it?” I asked, suddenly interested.

“I had a dream from Slickwing. He says that the invaders are coming. They are using the storm as cover. We need to get that rock out of here. We’re in the eye of the storm. We won’t get a better opportunity.”

Adam’s yelling was barely audible above the wind. It was enough to wake Doc from his stupor. “You want to leave?”

“We have to. If we don’t get the Artifact off the island before the storm lets up, it will lead the monsters right to our shelter here. The sooner we go the better. Will you get the door for us?” Adam said.

“Of course. Here.” Doc passed me the saddlebag containing the Artifact. I made sure it was there. “There’s some other stuff in the other side to keep you from getting off balance. Good luck to both of you.” Doc murmured something under his breath to Adam, who nodded. Then he opened the inner door and Adam and I headed out. It closed with a heavy thud of finality behind us.

“Ready to go?” I said to Adam.

“No but we’ve got to do it anyway.” He replied. We opened the outer door, carrying the hope of our friends along with a power we did not understand.